KITALE (Xinhua) --Kenya has stepped up security surveillance in the
western conservation region along its border with Uganda
following reports of armed ivory dealers targeting elephants,
officials said on Saturday.

Security chiefs in
the region announced that a surveillance team has been set up to
intensify patrols along the border.

Trans-Nzoia County
Commissioner Erastus Mbui and head of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)
in the region Adan Alio said adequate security measures have
been taken to save the elephant population, urging the community
to help tackle illegal poaching.

“We realized that
some ivory dealers sneaked into Mount Elgon National Park from
the Ugandan side to kill elephants and remove tusk. We have
dispatched a security patrol team to secure wildlife in the
region,” Mbui told Xinhua.

Last week, three
suspected poachers were arrested in West Pokot County and
elephant tusks weighing 64 kg and with a street value of 0.6
million U.S. dollars were recovered.

The tusks were
suspected to be that of two elephants that were killed late last
year.

In June this year,
three suspected poachers were gunned down at Mount Elgon
National Park in Trans-Nzoia County after a shootout with KWS
wardens. AK-47 rifles were recovered afterward.